Kevin Laliberte
Editor, Smoky River Express

Who in their right mind could pass up the opportunity to get out last weekend and take advantage of this mild spell of ‘it’s-about-time’ weather? Certainly not moi. With an abundance of outdoorsy-type work needing to be tackled I took advantage of the blissful offering from Mother Nature by getting a jump on my spring “to-do” list. That process began with a deep cleansing of the dreaded garage, which had become somewhat of winter wonderland over the past six months with an assortment of miscellaneous items ranging from shovels and Christmas lights to toboggans and electrical cords scattered about from one end to the other. Everything was appropriately packed away securely in the do not open until November 2007 corner of the garage and highlighted with marker which read “good riddance.” From there, I moved on to the shed and my next task at hand, which involved moving the barbecue, patio furniture and umbrella to its rightful resting place on the deck in preparation for another season of succulent ribs, steak, hot dogs and hamburgers. With the sun beating down upon me I then took it upon myself to fire up the lawnmower and put it through its first vigorous workout of the year. Ah, but first things first, namely the lawn and the time-consuming task of raking up all of last fall’s leaves, literally glued to the ground by the weight of this winter’s record snowfall. Six garbage bags full and a pulled back muscle later, I brought out “Mo” (my nickname for the lawnmower) out, adjusting the height of the wheels to their lowest setting to ensure the blade lifted and removed whatever dead grass I missed with the rake. It was then on to the shed for the lawn fertilizer, which as everyone knows is dandy stuff for the promotion of a thick and healthy green lawn. I was then whisked over to the small garden area in front of the house by my wife to help work up the dirt in preparation for a future planting date. An hour later and we moved on to the challenging task of cleaning out the holiday trailer, which involved an exterior wash in addition to re-stocking the cupboards with food and beverages. Last but not least was the long-awaited chance to spit-shine the motorcycle and fire her up – a process that was naturally highlighted by my maiden voyage of 2007 around the outskirts of McLennan. Ah, life just doesn’t get any better than this I thought to myself as I pounded the pavement, welcoming the first opportunity to scrape the remnants of bug guts off my visor following my first midair collision of the year with a wasp prior to returning home for a well-deserved cat nap. The next thing I know, I’m being given a series of nudges by Jacqui. “Hey, wake up Hootch,” she chirps in a tone that smacks of male resentment and disgust. “You’re drooling all over the sofa like a rabid dog. Get your butt off the couch and go remove the snow from the driveway. And take the Christmas lights down while you’re at it!” Okay, so it was all just a dream... one painfully distant dream of paradise which is so close yet seems so far away (kind of like that RCMP cruiser in your side mirror). In summary, I’ll leave you with this one note while you’re outside contemplating where to put that next seemingly never-ending shovel full of snow. Medicine Hat – my southern-based sister-in-law reminded me recently – hit a balmy 19 Celsius mark for the third time this month last weekend. Did I mention I’m really beginning to dislike her. I hope she gets a nasty red sunburn!

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